Julia Koch | |
---|---|
Born | Julia Margaret Flesher April 12, 1962 United States |
Alma mater | University of Central Arkansas |
Occupations | |
Title | President of David H. Koch Foundation |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Website | juliakoch |
Julia Margaret Flesher Koch (born April 12, 1962) is an American socialite and philanthropist who is one of the richest women in the world. In the annual Forbes ranking for April 2023, she ranked second among the richest women in the world with a fortune of $59 billion. [1] She inherited her fortune from her husband, David Koch, who died in 2019.
Julia Margaret Flesher was born in Des Moines, Iowa [2] on April 12, 1962. [3] [4] Her family came from a farming background, but when she was born, her parents, Margaret and Frederic Flesher, owned a furniture store called Flesher's. She spent her early childhood in Indianola, Iowa, then when she was eight years old her family moved to Conway, Arkansas, where her parents started a clothing store called Peggy Frederic's, which she considered "a beautiful, beautiful shop". [5] By 1998, her mother still lived in Conway but her father had moved back to Indianola. [5]
After graduating from the University of Central Arkansas and working as a model, Flesher moved to New York City in 1984, where she worked as fashion designer Adolfo's assistant and did fittings for Nancy Reagan. [6] [7] [5] [3]
She met David Koch on a blind date in January 1991, although they did not continue dating at the time. [5] [8] She later described her reaction: "I'm glad I met that man because now I know I never want to go out with him". [5] However, the two met again at a party later that year and started dating. [5] [8] She stopped working in 1993, [5] and they got married in May 1996 at David Koch's house on Meadow Lane in Southampton. [6] [7] [3]
In December 1997, she made what the New York Times called her "New York society debut" at the Met Gala. [5] [9] She was co-chairwoman of the gala that year, along with Anna Wintour and Patrick McCarthy. [9] [10] [11] McCarthy said she was "one of those people who occur in New York every few years...she's beautiful, she loves fashion, she knows how to entertain, she's married to an extraordinarily rich man." [5]
Julia and David Koch spent years living in an apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue, but in 2004 they moved to an 18-room duplex at 740 Park Avenue. [7] [12] [13] According to 740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building , David Koch bought the apartment for about $17 million from the Japanese government, which previously used it to house their permanent representative to the United Nations. [13] In 2018, the couple also bought an eight-bedroom townhouse in Manhattan from investor Joseph Chetrit for $40.25 million. [13] [14]
David Koch died in August 2019, and Julia Koch and their three children inherited 42% of Koch Industries. [6] [15] As a result, she was listed by Bloomberg as the richest woman in the world [16] [7] and was included on Forbes' list of the 10 richest women in the world in 2020. [17]
In 2022, Koch put the apartment at 740 Park Avenue on the market; a spokesperson said that she wanted to sell it because she was spending more time at houses in Southampton and Palm Beach. [13]
Koch is on the board of directors of Koch Industries. [4] She tends not to seek public attention. [8]
Koch is president of the David H. Koch Foundation, which says it has given over $200 million to causes related to science and medical research, education and the arts as of 2022. [18] She also established the Julia Koch Family Foundation, which donates to healthcare, educational and cultural organizations. [19]
During her husband's lifetime, they donated $1.2 billion to various causes such as the Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, [20] [21] the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. [22]
In 2012, Koch made a $10 million gift to the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, creating the David H. and Julia Koch Research Program in Food Allergy Therapeutics within its Jaffe Food Allergy Institute. [23] In 2016, she donated $10 million to establish the David & Julia Koch research clinic for allergy and asthma at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University. [24]
Koch has also given to LSA Family Health Services and NYU Langone, establishing the Julia Koch Endowed Scholarship. [25] Roy I. Davidovitch is the current Julia Koch Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and director of NYU Langone's Hip Center. [26]
In 2022, Koch donated $5 million to expand the Cox Science Center and Aquarium in Palm Beach, Florida. [27] In 2024, she donated $75 million to NYU Langone through the Julia Koch Family Foundation for the construction of the Julia Koch Family Ambulatory Care Center, a medical office tower in West Palm Beach, Florida. [28]
Koch is a member of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Board of Trustees, [29] the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees, [30] and the Venetian Heritage Foundation's Board of Directors. [31]
She was formerly on the board of directors of the School of American Ballet. [7]
Julia Koch has three children with David Koch; David Jr., Mary Julia, and John Mark. [32] Mary Julia is a staff reporter for The New York Sun. [33]
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the mayor of New York City for three terms from 2002 to 2013 and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president of the United States. In 2024, Bloomberg received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden. He has served as chair of the Defense Innovation Board, an independent advisory board that provides recommendations on artificial intelligence, software, data and digital modernization to the United States Department of Defense, since June 2022.
David Hamilton Koch was an American businessman, political activist, philanthropist, and chemical engineer. In 1970, he joined the family business: Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the United States. He became president of the subsidiary Koch Engineering in 1979 and became a co-owner of Koch Industries in 1983. Koch served as an executive vice president of Koch Industries until he retired due to health issues in 2018.
Alice Louise Walton is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart as daughter of founder Sam Walton. In September 2016, she owned over $11 billion in Walmart shares. As of November 2023, Walton has a net worth of $71 billion, making her the 17th richest person and the second-richest woman in the world according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Françoise Bettencourt Meyers.
Patricia Harris is the chief executive officer of Michael Bloomberg's philanthropic foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies. She was first deputy mayor for the City of New York from 2002 to December 31, 2013. She advised the Mayor of New York City, then Bloomberg, on administrative, operational, and policy matters. In 2022, she was included on Forbes Magazine's 50 over 50 list and in 2016, she was named one of the magazine's most powerful women in the world.
Jacqueline Mars is an American heiress and investor. She is the daughter of Audrey Ruth (Meyer) and Forrest Mars, Sr., and the granddaughter of Frank C. Mars, founders of the American candy company Mars, Incorporated. As of November 2023, Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated her net worth at US$46.6 billion, ranking her the 23rd-richest person in the world. In the annual ranking of the richest women in the world in 2023, Forbes estimated her fortune at $38.3 billion and placed her in fourth place.
Shari Arison is an American-born Israeli businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the owner of Arison Investments, which consists of several business companies, and of The Ted Arison Family Foundation, which comprises several philanthropic organizations that operate as its subsidiaries. She was the controlling shareholder of Bank Hapoalim for 21 years, and after selling some of her shares in November 2018, she ceased to be the controlling shareholder at the bank. She was also an owner of Shikun & Binui for 22 years, sold to the Saidoff Group on August 6, 2018.
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University (NYU), a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the University, the other being the NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine. Both are part of NYU Langone Health,an academic medical center named after Kenneth Langone, the investment banker and financial backer of The Home Depot.
Kenneth Gerard Langone Sr. KSG is an American billionaire businessman best known for organizing financing for the founders of The Home Depot. He is a major donor to the Republican Party.
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by a group of New Yorkers led by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institution near City Hall based on a curriculum focused on a secular education. The university moved in 1833 and has maintained its main campus in Greenwich Village surrounding Washington Square Park. Since then, the university has added an engineering school in Brooklyn's MetroTech Center and graduate schools throughout Manhattan.
The Leonard N. Stern School of Business is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance in 1900, the school received its current name in 1988.
David Sanford "Sandy" Gottesman was an American businessman, billionaire, and philanthropist. He founded First Manhattan Co. (FMC), and was noted for his friendship with Warren Buffett.
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and more than 300 locations throughout the New York City Region and Florida, including six inpatient facilities: Tisch Hospital; Kimmel Pavilion; NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital; Hassenfeld Children's Hospital; NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn; and NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island. It is also home to Rusk Rehabilitation. NYU Langone Health is one of the largest healthcare systems in the Northeast, with more than 49,000 employees.
MacKenzie Scott is an American novelist and philanthropist. As of January 2024, she has a net worth of US$40.6 billion, owning a 4% stake in Amazon, the company her then-husband, Jeff Bezos, founded. As such, Scott is the third-wealthiest woman in the United States and the 47th-wealthiest individual in the world. Scott was named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes in 2021 and one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2020.
The Koch family is an American family engaged in business, best known for their political activities and their control of Koch Industries, the 2nd largest privately owned company in the United States. The family business was started by Fred C. Koch, who developed a new cracking method for the refinement of heavy crude oil into gasoline. Fred's four sons litigated against each other over their interests in the business during the 1980s and 1990s.
Charles de Ganahl Koch is an American billionaire businessman. As of February 2024, he was ranked as the 23rd richest man in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $64.9 billion. Koch has been co-owner, chairman, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries since 1967, while his late brother David Koch served as executive vice president. Charles and David each owned 42% of the conglomerate. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, then expanded the business. Koch Industries is the largest privately held company by revenue in the United States, according to Forbes.
Robert Frederick Smith is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. He graduated from Cornell University with a chemical engineering degree and from Columbia Business School with an MBA, before working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. In 2019, while delivering the commencement speech at Morehouse College, Smith pledged to pay off the entire $34 million of student loan debt of all of the members of the 2019 graduating class.
Michael ByungJu Kim is a Korean American billionaire businessman. He is the founder and chairman of MBK Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. He has been called the "Godfather of Asian private equity".
Ruth Levy Gottesman is an American educator. Gottesman is the chair of the board of trustees of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM) in the Bronx, New York, and a long-time professor there. In February 2024, she donated $1 billion to AECOM to ensure that tuition would be free in perpetuity to all future students. It is the largest gift ever made to any medical school in the country.
The Sackler family is an American family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and later founded Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin. Purdue Pharma has been criticized for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States. They have been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".
Hassenfeld Children's Hospital (HCH) at NYU Langone is a pediatric acute-care children's hospital located on the NYU Langone Health campus in Manhattan, New York. Hassenfeld Children's Hospital has 102 pediatric beds and is located in the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Pavilion. It is directly affiliated with the pediatrics department of the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. The hospital treats infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21, with some programs treating up until age 25. While not a trauma center, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital contains the KiDS Emergency Department to treat children with injuries.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link){{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)